Bar codes have been conventionally used to identify goods, as well as the manufacturer/producer thereof. Bar codes come in a variety of types and formats, such as one-dimensional codes (in which the graphical pattern of a car code contains meaningful data when scanned in one dimension), Universal Product Codes (UPC), two dimensional codes, three dimensional codes (radio frequency codes), POSTNET schemes, etc.
Bar codes have been widely used to enable the tracking of inventory, to identify a product for re-stocking, to determine the price of an item at the time of sale, to monitor the status of shipment or delivery (by tracking its location), etc. This usually requires scanning of the bar code manually, using a handheld bar code scanner.
In actual use, when a package, such as a shipping carton, box, etc., is packed at a warehouse, it is necessary to both seal the box and record identification information printed on or attached thereto or within. Identification on the package may include one or more barcode labels, RFID tags, or human readable characters. Identification in the box may include RFID tags. In addition, it is sometimes necessary to record the condition of the box itself.
Conventionally, each of the above procedures (i.e., sealing of the box, scanning of the bar code attached thereto, and recordation of the box condition) is performed separately. This requires a warehouse employee or employees to utilize two or more handheld devices to prepare the package for shipment. For example, a handheld dispenser is used to seal the package, a handheld wireless scanner is used to record the identification information of the package, and a digital camera/imager is used to record the condition of the package before shipment thereof. This separation of steps in the preparation of a package for shipment is very time consuming and inefficient, as the warehouse employee must repeatedly switch back and forth between handheld devices.
As such, it is a first object of the invention to provide a single handheld device which can perform all of the above procedures, so as to allow for more efficient preparation of packages for shipment. It is a second object of the invention to provide an efficient method of preparation of a package for shipment, comprising sealing of the package, and recording the identification and condition information of a package, via a single handheld device. It is a third object of the invention to provide a system capable of collecting at a central station package identification and condition data from one or more handheld sealer/wireless scanning/imaging devices over a communication network.